Google "improvements"....

Morning all,

Google have just announced this....

"In 2011, we announced the retirement of Google Friend Connect for all non-Blogger sites. We made an exception for Blogger to give readers an easy way to follow blogs using a variety of accounts. Yet over time, we’ve seen that most people sign into Friend Connect with a Google Account. So, in an effort to streamline, in the next few weeks we’ll be making some changes that will eventually require readers to have a Google Account to sign into Friend Connect and follow blogs. 

As part of this plan, starting the week of January 11, we’ll remove the ability for people with Twitter, Yahoo, Orkut or other OpenId providers to sign in to Google Friend Connect and follow blogs. At the same time, we’ll remove non-Google Account profiles so you may see a decrease in your blog follower count.

We encourage you to tell affected readers (perhaps via a blog post), that if they use a non-Google Account to follow your blog, they need to sign up for a Google Account, and re-follow your blog. With a Google Account, they’ll get blogs added to their Reading List, making it easier for them to see the latest posts and activity of the blogs they follow.

We know how important followers are to all bloggers, but we believe this change will improve the experience for both you and your readers.

Posted by Michael Goddard, Software Engineer"

Im certainly no computer expert, but the net result of all these so called improvements is that if you dont have a google account, then you will no longer be able to follow blogs, which to me just sounds a bit silly, I dont get where the "improvement" is....

Steve

An alternative to AP dip?

Now then,

Well its happened again. Bloody AP DIP. The problem is that its in a little tin, and it constantly dries up, a bit of a pain considering it costs about £20.00 a go. So I have tried hammering the lid back on, storing he tin upside down, no good, still ends up really thick with a hard skin on it.

So I bought a big glass Jar, with a steel screw on lid. I put the dip in that, thinking it might work. I thought wrong. It still has a thick skin and I cant get the bloody lid off. It has welded in place, ive tried everything from soaking in terps, chipping away with a Stanley knife, I even had a go with a hack saw. Thoroughly pissed off with it.

So, im going to get a drill, make a hole in the top and put it in a golden syrup tin....once its gone im never buying it again.

I need an alternative quick shade method, that doesnt involve arseing about mixing floor polish and obscure inks etc.... Im thinking i'll base paint the figures, then gloss varnish, then ink, then matt varnish. Ive heard this works, as the gloss helps the ink run into all the creases etc and it doesnt sit on the flat areas?

Anyone got any ideas?

Steve.